Early in the 14th
century the Turkish tribal chieftain Othman (Osman) founded an empire in
western Anatolia (Asia Minor) that was to endure for almost six centuries.
As this empire grew by conquering lands of the Byzantine Empire and beyond,
it came to include at the height of its power all of Asia Minor; the countries
of the Balkan Peninsula; the islands of the eastern Mediterranean; parts
of Hungary and Russia; Iraq, Syria, the Caucasus, Palestine, and Egypt;
part of Arabia; and all of North Africa through Algeria.

The
Early Empire, 1300-1481

The
dynasty that Othman (1258-1326) founded was called Osmanli, meaning "sons
of Osman." The name evolved in English into Ottoman. The Ottoman Empire
was Islamic in religion. During the 11th century bands of nomadic Turks
emerged from their home in Central Asia to raid lands to the west. The strongest
of the Turkish tribes was the Seljuks. In time they established themselves
in Asia Minor along with other groups of Turks.

Following
the defeat of the Seljuks by the Mongols in 1293, Othman emerged as the
leader of local Turks in the fight against the tottering Byzantine Empire.
The final conquest of the Byzantines was not achieved until 1453 with the
fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul), but by that date all the surrounding
territory was in Ottoman hands.

Expansion

The
initial areas of expansion under Othman I and his successors Orkhan (ruled
1326-59) and Murad I (ruled 1359-89) were western Asia Minor and southeastern
Europe, primarily the Balkan Peninsula. During Orkhan's reign the practice
began of exacting a tribute in children from Christian subjects. The boys
were trained to become soldiers and administrators. As soldiers they filled
the ranks of the infantry, called the Janizaries (also spelled Janissaries),
the most fearsome military force in Europe for centuries.

Murad
I conquered Thrace, to the northwest of Constantinople, in 1361. He moved
his capital to Adrionople (now Edirne), Thrace's capital and the second
city of the Byzantine Empire. This conquest effectively cut off Constantinople
from the outside world, and allowed Murad to control the principal invasion
route through the Balkan Mountains, giving the Ottomans access to further
expansion to the north.

During
Murad I last victorious battle against Balkan allies, he was killed. His
successor, Beyazid I (ruled 1389-1402), was unable to make further European
conquests. He was forced to devote his attention to eastern Asia Minor to
deal with a growing Turkish principality, Karaman. He attacked and defeated
Karaman in 1391, put down a revolt of his Balkan subjects, and returned
to consolidate his gains in Asia Minor. His successes attracted the attention
of Timur Lenk (Tamerlane). Encouraged by Turkish princes who had fled to
his court from Beyazid I's incursions, attacked and overwhelmed him in 1402.
Taken captive by Timur Lenk, Beyazid died within a year.

Timur Lenk soon retired
from Asia Minor, leaving Beyazid's sons to take up where their father had
failed. The four sons fought for control until one of them, Mohammed I,
killed the other three and took control. He reigned from 1413 to 1421 and
his successor Murad II, from 1421 to 1451. Murad II suppressed Balkan resistance
and eliminated all but two of the Turkish principalities in Asia Minor.
The task of finishing the Balkan conquests and seizing all of Asia Minor
fell to Murad II's successor, Mohammed II (ruled 1451-81). It was he who
completed the siege of Constantinople in 1453 and made it the capital of
the Ottoman Empire. The whole Balkan Peninsula south of Hungary was incorporated
as well as the Crimea on the north coast of the Black Sea. Asia Minor was
completely subdued.

In
addition to conquering a large empire, Mohammed II worked strenuously for
consolidation and an adequate administrative and tax system. He was assisted
by the fact that the whole Byzantine bureaucratic structure fell into his
hands. Although Islamic, Ottoman sultans were not averse to using whatever
talent they could attract or sometimes, capture.

The
Golden Age, 1481-1566

Three
sultans ruled the empire at its height: Beyazid II (1481-1512), Selim I
(1512-20), and Suleyman I the Magnificent (1520-66). Beyazid extended the
empire in Europe, added outposts along the Black Sea, and put down revolts
in Asia Minor. He also turned the Ottoman fleet into a major Mediterranean
naval power. Late in life he became a religious mystic and was displaced
on the throne by his more militant son, Selim I.

Selim
I's first task was to eliminate all competition for his position. He had
his brothers, their sons, and all but one of his own sons killed. He thereby
established control over the army, which had wanted to raise its own candidate
to power. During his short reign the Ottomans moved south-and eastward into
Syria, Mesopotamia (Iraq), Arabia, and Egypt. At Mecca, the chief shrine
of Islam, he took the title of caliph, ruler of all Muslims. The Ottoman
sultans were thereafter the spiritual heads of Islam thereby displacing
the centuries-old caliphate of Baghdad.

By
acquiring the holy places of Islam, Selim I's cemented his position as the
religion's most powerful ruler. This gave the Ottomans direct access to
the rich cultural heritage of the Arab world. Leading Muslim intellectuals,
artists, artisans, and administrators came to Constantinople from all parts
of the Arab world. They made the empire much more of a traditional Islamic
state than it had been.

An
added benefit of Selim I's efforts was control of all Middle Eastern trade
routes between Europe and the Far East. The growth of the empire had for
some time been an impediment to European trade. In time this led European
states to seek routes around Africa to China and India. It also impelled
them to face westward and led directly to the discovery of the Americas.

Selim
I's's surviving son, Suleyman, came to the throne in an enviable situation.
New revenues from the expanded empire left him with wealth and power unparalleled
in Ottoman history. In his early campaigns he captured Belgrade (1521) and
Rhodes (1522) and broke the military power of Hungary. In 1529 he laid siege
to Vienna, Austria, but was forced to withdraw for lack of supplies. He
also waged three campaigns against Persia. Algiers in North Africa fell
to his navy in 1529 and Tripoli (now Libya) in 1551. In more peaceful pursuits
he adorned the chief cities of Islam with mosques, aqueducts, bridges, and
other public works. In Constantinople he had several mosques built, among
them the magnificent Suleymaniye Cami named for him.

Imperial
Decline, 1566-1807

During
Suleyman's long reign the Ottoman Empire was at the height of its political
power and close to its maximum geographical extent. The seeds of decline,
however, were already planted. As Suleyman grew tired of campaigns and retired
to his harem, his viziers, or prime ministers, took more authority. After
his death the army gained control of the sultanate and was able to use it
for its own benefit. Few sultans after Suleyman had the ability to exercise
real power when the need arose. This weakness at home was countered by a
growing power in the west. The nation-states of Europe were emerging from
the Middle Ages under strong monarchies. They were building armies and navies
that were powerful enough to attack a decaying Ottoman military might.

In
1571 the combined fleets of Venice, Spain, and the Papal States of Italy
defeated the Turks in the great naval Battle Lepanto, off the coast of Greece.
This defeat, which dispelled the myth of the invincible Turk, took place
during the reign of Selim II (ruled 1566-74). But the empire rebuilt its
navy and continued to control the eastern Mediterranean for another century.

As
the central government became weaker, large parts of the empire began to
act independently, retaining only nominal loyalty to the sultan. The army
was still strong enough, however, to prevent provincial rebels from asserting
complete control. Under Murad III (ruled 1574-95) new campaigns were undertaken.
The Caucasus was conquered, and Azerbaijan was seized. This brought the
empire to the peak of its territorial extent.

Reform
efforts undertaken by 17th-century sultans did little to deter the onset
of decay. The Ottomans were driven out of the Caucasus and Azerbaijan in
1603 and out of Iraq in 1604. Iraq was retaken by Murad IV (ruled 1623-40)
in 1638, but Iran remained a persistent military threat in the east. A war
with Venice (1645-69) exposed Constantinople to an attack by the Venetian
navy. In 1683 the last attempt to conquer Vienna failed. Russia and Austria
fought the empire by direct military attack and by fomenting revolt by non-Muslim
subjects of the sultan.

Beginning
in 1683, with the attack on Vienna, the Ottomans were at war with European
enemies for 41 years. As a result, the empire lost much of its Balkan territory
and all the possessions on the shores of the Black Sea. In addition, the
Austrians and Russians were allowed to intervene in the empire's affairs
on behalf of the sultan's Christian subjects.

The
weakness of the central government, as manifested by its military decline,
also showed itself in a gradual loss of control over most of the provinces.
Local rulers, called notables, carved for themselves permanent regions in
which they ruled directly, regardless of the wishes of the sultan in Constantinople.
The notables were able to build their power bases because they knew of the
sultan's military weakness and because local populations preferred their
rule to the corrupt administration of the faraway capital. The notables
formed their own armies and collected their own taxes, sending only nominal
contributions to the imperial treasury.

Selim
III (ruled 1789-1807) attempted to reform the empire and its army. He failed
and was overthrown. When Mahmud II (ruled 1808-39) came to the throne, the
empire was in desperate straits. Control of North Africa had passed to local
notables. In Egypt Muhammad Ali was laying the foundation of an independent
kingdom. Had the European nations cooperated, they could have destroyed
the Ottoman Empire.

In
1826, five years after Greece began its fight for independence, the Janizaries
revolted to stop reforms. Warfare between the Turks and Greeks was fierce,
and eventually a new military system in the style of European armies. He
also reformed the administration and gained control over some of the provincial
notables, with the exception of Egypt. By the time of Mahmud's death the
empire was more consolidated and powerful, but it was still subject to European
interference.

Mahmud's
sons, Abdulmecid I (ruled 1839-61) and Abdulaziz (ruled 1861-76) carried
out further reforms, especially in education and law. Nevertheless, by mid-century
it was evident that the Ottoman cause was hopeless. Czar Nicholas I of Russia
commented on the Ottoman Empire in 1853: "We have on our hands a sick man,
a very sick man."

The
"Sick Man of Europe" 1850-1922

The
conflicting interests of European states propped up the Ottoman Empire until
after World War I. Great Britain especially was determined to keep Russia
from gaining direct access to the Mediterranean from the Black Sea. Britain,
France, and Sardinia helped the Ottomans during the Crimean War (1854-56)
to block the Russians.

The
Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 brought Russia almost to Constantinople. The
Ottomans were forced to sign the Treaty of San Stefano, which would have
ended their rule in Europe except that the European states called the Congress
of Berlin. It succeeded in propping up the old empire for a few decades
more.

Abdulhamid
II (ruled 1876-1909) developed strong ties with Germany, and the Ottomans
fought on Germany's side in World War I. Russia hoped to use the war as
an excuse to gain access to the Mediterranean and perhaps capture Constantinople.
This aim was frustrated by the Russian Revolution of 1917 and withdrawal
from the war. Ottoman defeat in war inspired an already fervent Turkish
nationalism. The postwar settlement outraged the nationalists. A new government
under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, known as Ataturk (father of the Turks),
emerged at Ankara. The last sultan, Mohammed VI, fled in 1922 after the
sultanate had been abolished. All members of the Ottoman Dynasty were expelled
from the country two years later. Turkey was proclaimed a republic, with
Ataturk as its first president.